Collaborate – Large scale sessions

You can enable Collaborate sessions to have more than 250 participants, with up to a maximum of 500.

It is important to keep in mind that:

• A Collaborate Ultra Large Event session cannot be a repeating session.
• A Collaborate Ultra Large Event session cannot be an open ended session with no end time.
• A Collaborate Ultra Large Event session must have a specified Start and End time no more than 4 – 6 hours apart.
• Options for participants to: Share Audio, Share Video, Post Chat Messages and Write on Whiteboard or Files will be deselected by the system upon saving the Large Event Session.
• The chat option for participants can be enabled, but only during a session.
• Breakout Rooms are also unavailable for Large Events in Collaborate.

Due to the above you should only enable the large session setting if you are confident you will need it, otherwise you would be disabling functionality without needing to do so.

To enable a Large Scale Collaborate Sessions do the following.

1. Create a new session.

2. Expand the session settings options.

3. Select the ‘Allow 250+ attendees to join’ checkbox.

4. Select the ‘Create’ button.

Using chat in a large scale session

Text chat can only be activated once a large scale session has been started.

1. Join the session.
2. Look to the bottom right of the Collaborate area and select the ‘Open Collaborate Panel’.
3. From the new panel that has opened select from the bottom of it the cog icon for ‘My Settings’.
4. Expand out the ‘Session Settings’ dropdown.
5. Look under ‘Participant permissions’ and select the ‘Post chat messages’ tick box.

Best Practices for Moderators in Large Events when using Collaborate Ultra:

• Let your participants join the session early. This gives new participants a chance to get familiar with the room and what they can and can’t do. Join the session early yourself and practice using the tools.
• Upload files and arrange the windows. The first time you share your application screen, your browser may require you to install the Desktop Sharing extension. To learn more, see Application Sharing Support for Chrome or look at our other help pages.
• All moderators should access the settings to configure their audio before the session begins.
• Mute yourself when not speaking. Nothing is more distracting than hearing outside sounds like typing or a side conversation.
• Chat for participants is disabled by default, but a Moderator can easily enable them by looking under ‘My Settings’ > ‘Session Settings’. We suggest leaving the chat off during the presentation and having designated periods of Question and Answer time where the chat is enabled to allow users to ask questions.